Governor for fire-pump apparatus



Aug. 16, 1938. B. D. BARTON GOVERNOR FOR FIRE PUMP APPARATUS Filed Aug. 26, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 16, 1938. B. D. BARTON GOVERNOR FOR FIRE PUMP APPARATUS Filed Aug. 26, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m M a H M 1 3W 3 d 0 3 v- 1 m 4 flJflu HHIIJJ 7 T C W c M W M 3 .4 1 M 2 H a 7 y 2 2 H 2 3 .y z 1. an a M z M u 5 n t "T y J .a U 7 M H W W M W U 0 3. w? a 1 h m I A aw a 9/, 1 J glulum ma J 4 a 5 mw c m w W n 1 {ml 1/! W V 2 y f 1 7M. w m 5 if: a flu 4 m mm J u Iliw v 5 Q 1 n a 7 F N 7 Patented Aug. 16, 1938 PATENT OFFHCE GOVERNOR FOR FIRE-PUMP APPARATUS Ben D. Barton, Battle Creek, Mich, assignor to American Steam Pump Company, Battle Creek,

Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application August 26, 1935, Serial No. 38,008

3 Claims.

This invention is a novel governor, which I term an engine horse-power and centrifugalpump maximum pressure governor having two primary functions: (1) to automatically limit the horse-power output of the engine without necessarily restricting the speed of rotation of the crank shaft, and (2) to automatically limit the pressures created by a pump to a predetermined level, said governor being adapted to be installed in the fuel intake manifold of a prime mover, preferably disposed between the intake manifold and carburetor of an internal combustion engine used in connection with fire-pump apparatus, said governor being particularly although not necessarily adapted for use in connection with fire-pump apparatus such as the portable type shown in my U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,538,881 dated May 26, 1925, and Reissue Patent No. 17,538 dated December 24, 1929; which apparatus consists briefly of a centrifugal firepump mounted upon the front end of an automobile chassis and directly driven through suitable clutch mechanism by the main crank shaft of the engine of the vehicle.

I will explain the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate several practical embodiments thereof to enable others familiar with the art to adopt and use the same; and will summarize in the claims the novel features of construction, and novel combinations of parts, for which protection is desired.

In said drawings:-

Fig. 1 is an elevation showing the assembly of my novel governor in a fire pump apparatus such as shown in my aforesaid patents, the governor being installed between the intake manifold and carburetor of the engine, and also showing the pipe connection from the governor to the pressure side of the pump.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the governor, detached.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the valve operating mechanism of the governor, along the line 33, Fig. 2, and showing the parts in normal his position in which the valve is in fully open position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the parts in the positions assumed when the governor is acting to restrict the horse-power of the engme.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 3 and 4 but showing the parts in the positions assumed under a predetermined pressure equal to the higher pressure required of the individual unit.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a governor valve body ill E is also mounted on the chassis in advance of z the engine A, the impeller of pump E being driven directly through a clutch or transmission shaft F by the main crank shaft of the engine.

The governor shown in Figs. 1-5 comprises a valve body I having upper and lower coupling flanges la, lb, perforated as at lc to receive bolts or the like for connecting the valve body to the mating coupling flanges of the intake manifold B and carburetor C of the engine whereby in installing the governor it is merely necessary to I disconnect the carburetor from the intake manifold, then insert the governor valve body I in place, and bolt the mating flanges of the parts together.

Disposed vertically of the valve body is a bore 2, and extending transversely through the bore is a shaft 4 carrying a butterfly valve 5 within the bore adapted when shaft 4' is rotated to open or close the bore to control the quantity of fuel passing from the carburetor into the intake manifold.

Shaft 4 extends through one side of the body and is provided on its outer end with a disk 1 having a pin 8 eccentrically mounted thereon, said pin being adapted to be engaged by a transverse slot in the head of a plunger 9 mounted in a cylinder ID, the housing of which is connected to or integral with the side of the valve body I. Plunger 9 (Fig, 7) has an enlarged head 9a (Fig. '7) adjacent its outer end provided with a transverse slot Slb in one side receiving pin 8, which pin is so disposed in disk 1 that when head 9a of plunger 9 is in its normal position, abutting against the adjacent end of cylinder ill, the butterfly valve 5 will be disposed in its fully open position and any movement of the plunger (to the left in Fig. 3) will close the valve a corresponding amount. The outer end of head So of the plunger is preferably provided with a tubular extension 90, for the purpose hereinafter explained.

The outer end of cylinder I0 is interiorly threaded as at lllb for the reception of the threaded end of a tube II, preferably of copper, which is connected directly to the pressure side of centrifugal pump E. Preferably cylinder l9 has a drain Hid in one side and has an annular recess Hie opposite drain lfid into which seepage of fluid may pass and be removed through drain lfid in order to prevent freezing in cold weather.

On valve body I, at the side of disk 1 opposite to cylinder Iii, is a lug l2 having a cylindrical bore [2a in axial alignment with plunger 9, said bore receiving the inner end of a sleeve l3 secured in bore i2a in any desired manner, the sleeve 13 preferably having an annular shoulder l3a at one end for properly positioning the sleeve in the bore. The outer end !3b of the sleeve is preferably reduced in diameter and is externally threaded to receive the thimble H: which is preferably closed at its outer end Ma except for an axial opening I i-b for the passage of the sleeve [5 of a rod ll, hereinafter referred to. Sleeve l3 has a stepped bore l3cl3d therein, the smaller bore I30 being disposed at the end of the sleeve adjacent disk 7, an annular abutment or shoulder lSe being formed at the junction of said bores.

Sleeve 15 of the rod I7 is preferably tubular and provided with internal threads 55a at its outer end, and with a cylindrical head l5b at its inner end adapted to slidably fit within the larger bore ltd of sleeve i3, and a compression coil spring it is housed within bore i319 around sleeve l5, said spring being interposed between the head I51) of sleeve l5 and the end Ma of thimble 14 so as to normally yieldably maintain the head 65b abutting against the shoulder l3e. The compressive strength of spring 16 is controlled by adjustment of the thimble 14 on the threaded portion of sleeve I3.

Rod i: has a threaded end Ila engaging the internally threaded portion 65a of sleeve l5 whereby rod ll may be adjusted axially of the sleeve. Rod ll extends beyond head l5b, through bore B0 of sleeve 53, and to a point somewhat in advance of sleeve 53, said rod telescoping the tubular extension of the head of plunger 9. A compression coil spring 58 is housed within bore 530 around rod ll and interposed between head 15b and the end of the tubular extension 90 which is of smaller diameter than the bore 130 so that the extension 90 may enter said bore H30; and spring 18 normally urges plunger 9 into the position shown in Fig. 3 in which the head 9a contacts directly with the adjacent end of cylinder ill, in which position butterfly valve 5 is in fully open position.

The normal function of spring I8 is to hold plunger 9 in a retarded position and thereby keep butterfly valve 5 in an open position until some predetermined pressure working against plunger 9 forces this spring to compress, and while it is true that spring 18 would in common practice operate at lower pressure than would spring l6 yet it should not necessarily be referred to as a low compression spring as it holds butterfly valve 5 in an open position at all times when the pump is not in operation. This is an important feature in connection with fire apparatus where the full horse-power of the motor is required for operating the fire truck.

The operation of the governor is as follows: The rod I?! is adjusted in sleeve [5 to limit the maximum horse-power of engine A to any desired closure of the butterfly valve 5 to prevent horse-power overload on the pump transmission shaft F. As an example, if a governor is mounted on an engine which will develop horsepower when the throttle is wide open, and it is known that the pump requires only '75 horsepower, the rod I! should be adjusted so that the butterfly valve is fixed to open just the required amount to permit the engine to drive the pump at the required capacity and pressure.

A partial closing of butterfly valve 5 does not necessarily, in actual practice, limit or restrict the normal working speeds of the engine, as the governor will limit horse-power without necessarily limiting or aflecting speed of the engine. A partial closing of valve 5 has the effect of con trolling the horse-power output of the engine at all speeds within its normal working speed range; therefore, with the horsepower of the motor lessened because of the adjustment of rod H, a pump driven by this motor can still be operated to the higher speeds normally required to cover a practical range of service conditions. For instance, a pump rated for 500 G. P. M. (gallons per minute) underwriters requirements must have a capacity of 500 G. P. M. at pressure, 250 G. P. M. at 200# pressure, 167 G. P. M. at 250# pressure.

At the higher speed necessary to obtain the 250# pressure, for example, should the discharge head be reduced to 120#, the capacity would be very much increased over that obtainable from the pump when it was running at the required speed for the 120# pressure rating, and the horsepower required would also be very much greater. Therefore, a 500-gallon pump requiring 53, 58 and 63 B. H. P. respectively on the three above-mentioned capacities and pressure requirements could at the speed necessary for the 250# test actually deliver say 700 gallons per minute requiring possibly 90 horse-power. It may be that the pump transmission in a given pump is not suitable for over 80 H. P. and one of the functions of the speed governor would be to prevent more than 80 H. P. going through the pump. An engine capable of developing 100 H. P. at a certain speed with wide open throttle could operate at the same speed delivering with say 20% closure of the butterfly valve in the governor. It is this function of horse-power limitation without necessarily restricting the speed that is very important.

The spring it, which is a light bufler spring, permits plunger 9 to move towards rod [1, thereby initially partially closing the butterfly valve 5 an amount corresponding with the setting of rod I! when a certain pressure, or more, is eX- erted on the plunger 9, said pressure being the pressure of fluid at the outlet of pump E transmitted to cylinder it through tube H. Such pressure may be, say, approximately five pounds, under which the piston 8 will move towards rod ll against the action of spring I3 until the tubular extension 90 has fully telescoped the end of rod I1, and the parts are in the position shown in Fig. l. Such movement of the plunger will somewhat close the butterfly valve 5, depending upon the setting of rod H in sleeve l5, and the plunger 9 will remain in this position as long as the requisite pressure of live pounds or more, is exerted by the pressure side of pump E upon the plunger in cylinder Ill.

The first movement of the plunger 9 is effected by most any pressurev that the pump might develop in operation, so that primarily, the closure of the butterfly valve to whatever extent it is determined by tension of spring l8 and the position of rod ll with relation to the inner end of tubular section 9c is the limiting control of horse-power with no effect upon speed so long as a certain horse-power dependent upon the amount of fuel that will pass through the governor in that position is not exceeded. In other Words, an engine may require a wide open throt-' tle to deliver 100 H. P. at 4000 R. P. M. but might deliver 80 H. P. with a 20% closure of the governor throttle valve and still run at 4000 R. P. M.

Further movement of plunger 9 in direction to close valve 5 is yieldably prevented by the compression coil spring l6 acting against the head l5b of sleeve IE; but when the pressure on the plunger is sufficient to overcome the compression of spring IS, the plunger 9 acting through rod 11 will move sleeve l5 into the position shown in Fig. 5 against the action of spring l6, thereby further closing the butterfly valve 5 and reducing the amount of fuel passing to the engine cylinders. Spring l6 may be adjusted by setting thimble l4 so that the spring I6 will yield when the desired maximum fluid pressure at the outlet of pump E has been attained, and such movement of sleeve 15 will throttle the engine to reduce the speed thereof, and will control the maximum pressure that the pump may develop and thus avoid damage to pump or hose line as a result of excessive pressures. Spring I6 is preferably of such strength that it will compress over a range of piston pressures to meet the exact requirements for the individual unit, said spring pressure being rendered variable by adjustment of the threaded thimble I4 on the outer end of sleeve I 3 to vary the tension of spring I 6 which can be so set that when the predetermined maximum pressure is reached the butterfly valve 5 will be sufficiently closed to prevent setting up of higher pressures in the pump.

When the pump E is in developed by the pump is less than the predetermined pressure in cylinder [0, the spring l8 will automatically return the butterfly valve 5 to its normally wide open position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, permitting the engine to develop to full power subject to the usual manually operated carburetor control (not shown) of the engine.

In Fig. 6 a modification is shown in which the governor is adapted for use in connection with a disuse, or the pressure V-type engine having a double intake manifold,

the valve body being provided with two bores 2a, the shaft 4 extending transversely through both bores and carrying butterfly valves 5a disposed in the respective bores; but the operation of the governor shown in this modification is the same as that described in connection with Figs. 1-3.

Use of my governor will therefore automatically limit the horse-power output of the prime mover to a predetermined maximum, and will also automatically limit the outlet pressures created by the centrifugal pump to a predetermined maximum, thereby preventing injury to the pump, hose line, or pump transmission shaft.

The valve body may be further modified to suit other types of engines and manifolds, and I do not consider my invention restricted to use only in connection with internal combustion engines for obviously same may be applied to turbines or other prime movers having valved fuel inlets.

Although this governor is particularly well adapted for application to a centrifugal pump with gasoline engine for fire service, it is not intended to limit the invention to a centrifugal pump nor to fire service nor to a gasoline engine.

I claim:-

1. A governor comprising a valve body; a throttle valve in said body, a cylinder on said body; a plunger in the cylinder operatively connected with said valve; a guide mounted on the body opposite the plunger; a slide in the guide; a rod adjustably mounted in the slide and adapted to engage the plunger and permit the valve to close a predetermined amount at predetermined pressures in the cylinder; yielding means reacting to normally maintain the valve in open position; and

means associated with the slide and adapted to yieldably prevent further closing of the valve until a predetermined higher pressure is attained in the cylinder.

2. A governor comprising a valve body; a throttle valve in said body, a cylinder on said body; a plunger in the cylinder operatively connected with said valve; a sleeve on the body opposite the plunger; a slide in the sleeve; a rod on the slide adapted to engage the plunger and permit the valve to close a predetermined amount at predetermined pressures in the cylinder; a spring around the rod interposed between the slide and plunger for normally maintaining the valve in open position; a closure for the end of the sleeve; and means reacting to normally yieldably prevent further closing of the valve until a predetermined higher pressure is attained in the cylinder.

3. A governor comprising a valve body; a throttle valve in said body, a cylinder on said body; a plunger in the cylinder operatively connected with said valve; a sleeve on the body opposite the plunger; a slide in the sleeve; a rod adjustably mounted on the slide and adapted to engage the end of the plunger and permit the valve to close a predetermined amount at predetermined pressures in the cylinder; yielding means reacting to normally maintain the valve in open position; a thimble threaded on the end of the sleeve; and a spring in the sleeve interposed between the slide and thimble and adapted to yieldably prevent further closing of the valve until a predetermined higher pressure is attained in the cylinder.

BEN D. BARTON. 

